


Thirst For Knowledge

by Tabbyluna



Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Kidfic, Libraries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: To be a good witch, you need to have the desire to learn.
Kudos: 3





	Thirst For Knowledge

Hex looked through the books on the dusty library shelf. Tracing a finger through the titles, she grimaced when she saw the layer of dust which formed on it from that action. The children’s section of their little public library was never very well-maintained, and she wished that she had brought her handkerchief so that she could wipe them up herself. 

Not that there was anything she really wanted to read anyways. The children’s section was one shelf big, and she had already read all of the titles at least twice. Her mother always bragged to the neighbours about how many books she devoured. How she was an easy child. Leave her alone, and she would not cause problems. She would be far too busy reading to even consider trotting into trouble. But the problem with being a reader like her, one who hungered after books and stories, was that she always needed new books. And sadly, the library’s children section simply did not provide. 

She was a curious child. If she had questions, she would always ask to get answers. It had gotten her into trouble with teachers, neighbours, religious leaders, but her mother always encouraged her to ask. The librarian insisted on children staying in the children’s section. “Children must not read things they cannot understand,” was her philosophy. But Hex never liked the idea of completely understanding everything in her life. She had a hunger to learn. And you could not learn if you did not have questions. 

And so, she sat down. Folding her legs, hidden behind the shelf, keeping her eyes on the librarian.

She would be leaving for a lunch break soon. And that would give her some time to hunt around for a book in the adult section that interests her. Patiently, she sat there. Putting on the front of an ignorant, obedient child. Waiting for the librarian, with her wrinkled grey stockings and steely, cold glare, to leave. Waiting for her freedom to read to come. 

Soon, the librarian left. The library was mostly empty, with only a few adults reading. There was not a single child in sight, and Hex guessed that it was because the old librarian scared them off. But Hex wasn’t scared. Her mother never encouraged her to be sacred. Her mother always told her stories of brave little girls, facing wolves and monsters and demons. Fighting with their courage and their brains and their hearts. Always coming out victorious. 

Today, she wanted to be victorious.

She had started bringing a pocket watch to the library about a week ago. That was to enact stage one of her plan. At school, they had started to teach them how to calculate averages. Maths was never Hex’s strongest subject, though it wasn’t her weakest either. But when she heard how it could be used, she made sure to work twice as hard for that particular module. For a week, she hid at the library, paying attention to how long the librarian’s lunch break lasted. And then she averaged it out at home. On average, the librarian takes about forty-five minutes to eat her lunch. So therefore, she had about forty-five minutes to pick out a book, read it for a bit, and then put it back in place. Altogether that was not much time. But fortunately, she already made up her mind what sort of book she wanted. All she needed to do was find it.

The librarian finally walked off, out of the library with a red cloth bag containing her lunch. Cheekily and childishly, Hex wondered to herself about the type of lunch a gruesome lady like that would eat. Moldy, maggot infested cheese? The rotting carcass of a kitten? She grimaced and chuckled to herself. 

That librarian always reminded her of the wicked witches in the stories she read, and Hex never wanted to grow up to become a wicked witch. But in those stories about wicked witches, there were sometimes also good witches. Good witches were kind, using magic to help instead of hurt. Good witches were earnest, always ready to learn and explore the world around them. Good witches were humble, they did not desire money or glory, they were not vain or selfish. She liked good witches. Though their cloaks were dark and they were bookish loners, they were still good and kind. 

Hex liked that. Hex liked that a lot.

Her love of good witches was what caused the kids at school to nickname her Hex. Though it started out as an insult, she actually quite liked it. In a way, she kind of liked being a good witch. How it meant that she was still bookish and polite and well-spoken, but at the same time, it gave her the license to break the rules and be rebellious, provided she had a good enough reason. Seeking knowledge seemed to be a good enough reason.

So, she figured, since she was going to be a good witch that day, she would head over to the spellbooks. 

She walked quickly, practically gliding over the polished wooden floors. The librarian did not care to maintain the children’s section, but the rest of the library was spick and span. Just another reason why Hex preferred the adult’s section of the library. It didn’t make her eyes watery or her nose itchy from the dust, and the books were actually well-kept and well-organised instead of torn, tattered and dirty. 

As she turned towards the non-fiction shelves, Hex almost tripped over a stepladder. But she carefully side-stepped it, and looked up, trying to search for the spellbooks. There was no need for her to worry about it being located on the top shelves. She was a tall girl, always had been, and even if they were on the uppermost shelves she was sure that she could reach them by standing on her tip-toes on the stepladder. She placed a finger on the shelf. And walked past the ‘P’s, towards the ‘Q’s, then to the ‘R’s, and finally…

The ‘S’s. Hex smirked, and began to try to narrow her search down to the ‘SP’s. Spellbooks, spellbooks, spellbooks. There were books about spines, books about spending habits, and…

Ah, there we go. The spellbooks.

She looked through the available titles, searching for something that did not require much prior knowledge on magic in order for someone to read. Surely there had to be a book targeted towards beginners here? Eventually, she settled for ‘Spellcasting 101’. The title sounded promising enough. Why not give it a go?

And so she walked back to the children’s corner, leather-bound book tucked under her arm. Checking her pocket watch, she figured that she had about fifteen minutes to read the book before she needed to return it and head back to school for afternoon lessons. But those fifteen minutes should be enough to read at least ten pages. Who knows, if she kept this up, eventually she might become one of the greatest magicians to have ever lived. 

Maybe she might even become like those witches in those stories she loved so much.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like writing kid Hex. If anything, to explore what she was like pre-transformation.


End file.
